Alright, here it is. First chapter of the rewritten version of Forget. And when I say 'rewritten', I mean completely rewritten. There were a lot of things that didn't make sense in the original story, so... bluh. I replayed both of the original games (plus Infinite, holy shit) and did some research into the timeline of Rapture, and things have been changed accordingly.
I actually have most of the story plotted out this time, and I've done some more writing with these characters in other things, so hopefully that helps with the continuity. And, since I actually have a plot to follow this time, updates will probably be more frequent, time permitting. Praise Jegus.
I'll be the first to admit that the first couple chapters are going to be kind of boring, so... bear with me. Anyways, I'll shut up, now. Thanks for reading.
When she had first agreed to take the story, Bianca Heuer hadn't expected much to come from it. She had been a little annoyed that she had been sent out to get the skinny on some sensationalist Loch Ness monster chase for the sake of readership, to be sure, but never would she have imagined that she would be on a plane to Iceland to investigate a rash of disappearances. People vanished all the time, but something had stood out about this particular set of cases. First, all of the victims had been children - little girls between the ages of six and nine. Second, there had been more than one report of a massive, gangly figure in a diving suit disappearing into the ocean around the time that the girls had vanished.
She hadn't believed it for a second, upon hearing it, but she had spoken to the witnesses nonetheless and after chasing down a few dead ends, she had uncovered something that made her even less likely to believe the stories she was hearing. Tales of an Atlantis-esque underwater city, free from the influence of any established government, were making their way around the seedy underbelly of New York City, apparently spawning from a particular gang of thugs that occasionally did business with the place. A contact with connections to the gang had at least confirmed that a very strange smuggling operation had been going on until a couple years previously.
"Religious memorabilia," Lyra had said somewhat contemptuously, her red-painted lips wrapped around a cigarette with a hint of a smile tugging at the corners. "Smuggling bibles. Strangest thing I've ever heard of." She had paused and taken the cancer stick out of her mouth, a frown touching her features as she added, "If you ever do find out what happened to 'em, let me know, won't you?"
And so she had. In the plane seat beside her, Lyra Valentin dozed gracefully, her petite form curled a little toward the window. When Bianca had told the young woman that she had a lead on where the smugglers had vanished to, and that this underwater city might have some connection to the her current investigation, Lyra had demanded to be included on the grounds that one of the smugglers had something of hers and she wanted it back. It had been impossible to say no to her, especially when her father had taken an interest in the whole ordeal. Daddy Dearest had actually funded the expedition, putting up the money for all three plane tickets as soon as his little girl had turned her big pleading eyes his way.
The third ticket. She had almost forgotten about the last member of her investigation – another lead who had actually promised that he could take her to this underwater metropolis. Phineas. Arguably the most important asset, though she supposed that being able to find the place wouldn't mean much if they couldn't get there. She glanced around, unable to recall where he sat in relation to herself and Lyra in the haze of sleepiness and jetlag.
"All passengers should return to their seats now. We'll be touching down in about ten minutes. We appreciate your cooperation and thank each and every one of you for choosing Pan American Airways."
Bianca let out a little sigh and pushed a lock of chocolate brown hair away from her face. Flying made her nervous. She nudged Lyra with her elbow and said, "Hey, wake up. We're about to land."
"One more hour," the girl replied, her nose wrinkling in displeasure.
"I'll just ask them to fly in circles for a bit, then," Bianca said, rolling her viridian eyes in annoyance. Lyra nodded blearily and moved to roll over once more, but Bianca took her arm and shook it lightly. "Oh, come now, you've been sleeping almost the entire time we've been flying."
"I don't see any problem with that," Lyra retorted sleepily, but she sat up and knuckled sleep from her eyes anyways. She pushed her white-blonde hair away from her face and turned her light grey eyes reproachfully upon her friend. "So what's the plan?"
"We'll have to ask our friend once we've landed," Bianca responded with a shrug. "I expect that he has something in mind."
Lyra did not seem impressed. "I thought you said he sounded like a lunatic on the phone," she muttered, lowering her voice in hopes that nobody would overhear them.
"It's a bit late to start having doubts now," her friend hissed back irately. "Besides, he has the fucking coordinates tattooed on his arm. If worse comes to worst we'll just take 'em to a professional navigator and leave without him."
The slender creature beside her lifted an eyebrow but nodded slightly, apparently satisfied with this conclusion. Bianca settled into her seat and buckled the safety belt in anticipation of the descent. Her friend could be a bit of a princess at times, but she was clever. Just as well that she had come along, if half of the stories she had heard about his place – Rapture – had a shred of truth to them.
A few rows behind the girls, Phineas Carlisle was staring intently at the back of the seat before him, knee bobbing with nervous energy. His seatmate seemed a little disgruntled by his unconscious twitching, but the man's pointed glares and throat-clearings went entirely unnoticed by the redhead beside him.
His mind was racing, vacillating rapidly between elation, uncertainty, and fear, and occasionally a mixture of all three. There were so many unknowns involved in this little expedition, he couldn't help but feel a little guilty for dragging a couple of broads along for the ride.
Not guilty enough to call off the trip altogether, of course. This was his only chance; there was no way he'd be able to fund a journey back on his own. He had mentioned in passing the potential danger in heading down to the underwater city as one might mention that there are, in fact, bears on a mountain when departing for a camping trip. Neither female had seemed especially perturbed by this information, although he had a feeling that some of the brunette's bravery stemmed from her lack of faith that the city existed in the first place.
If he was being honest, he wasn't quite sure where his own bravery was coming from. He had been there when Rapture had gone to hell, if only briefly, and though his hopes were high that Ryan had since set things right, the image of a drug-addled, subhuman creature hurling itself at the porthole of the bathysphere as he fled the city in the wake of the destruction surfaced in his mind and sent a chill up his spine.
Phineas was jarred from his thoughtful stupor by a dig in the ribs from his seatmate, who was looking at him reproachfully as people around them gathered their luggage from the overhead compartments. He hopped up, mumbling apologetically as he grabbed his things quickly and moved out of the way, up the aisle toward his companions.
"Doin' alright there, ladies?" he inquired, whiskey-colored eyes flickering between the two girls as he offered a charming half-smile.
Bianca glanced over her shoulder and arced an eyebrow at him as she stretched to pull her suitcase down. "Just swell," she grunted in reply, giving a hearty tug and freeing her friend's bag from the overhead compartment. She passed it off to Lyra and turned to get her own bag, but found that their taller compatriot had shifted slightly into their row and reached past them both, pulling the luggage down with ease.
"Shall we?" the redhead inquired, slinging his own bag over his shoulder and inclining his head toward the door. The line of passengers had thinned sufficiently to allow them to get off without any hassle, and Phineas headed for the door without waiting on a response, Bianca's bag still in tow.
"Hang on, bring that back!" she hissed after him, but did not seem to hear her as he continued on and disappeared out the cabin door.
Lyra laughed quietly and gave her flustered friend an amused smirk, commenting as she started after him, "Chivalry isn't dead, after all."
"Chivalry," Bianca repeated scathingly, rolling her eyes.
The women found their guide waiting for them just outside the door, an easy grin still on his lips as he held Bianca's bag out for her to take. She snatched it away and gave him a sour look, but her annoyance evaporated quickly as she looked around and it sank in that she was out of New York City for the first time in what felt like ages.
"So, Phineas," Lyra began, noting her friend's temporary lapse in attention as people milled about on all sides. "What's the plan?"
He frowned slightly, then shrugged. "Got t'rent us a boat, first off," he replied. He held up a hand to stem the blonde's questions he could sense building on the tip of her tongue and smiled wanly. "Relax, lassie, I'm not going to be the one navigating. I know a guy." The tall, lean male shifted slightly, casting an impatient glance toward the door. "If you've got all your things, I suggest we get goin' if we plan on makin' it out there before it gets dark."
Bianca looked over at him sharply, brow furrowing. "What, you mean today? We have reservations at a hotel, if we don't show up, they'll come looking for us," she told him, struggling to keep a note of suspicion out of her tone.
"You kin give your people a call an' let 'em know there's been a change of plans," Phineas responded dismissively, slinging an arm about both females' shoulders and steering them toward the exit. This was going to be a long week.
New characters, ahoy.
As ever, let me know what you think. Next chapter should be up relatively soon. Huzzah!